OLIVEIRA LEAVES WOLVES HOWLING
WOLVES and Leeds were left cursing late goals as the midweek Championship programme concluded in dramatic fashion on Wednesday night. Runaway league leaders
Wolves looked to be cruising towards another maximum haul when they raced into a two-goal lead in the opening 25 minutes against Norwich at Molineux.
A Jamal Lewis own goal and Alfred N’Diaye’s header put the hosts in the driving seat, but the Canaries replied just two minutes later with a Cristoph Zimmermann header to revive their chances.
It still looked as though Wolves would still take victory, but substitute Nelson Oliveira let fly with a speculative 30yard effort in the third minute of stoppage time to earn Norwich an unexpected point.
Delighted Canaries boss Daniel Farke said: “We dominated lots of the game. It was a late equaliser but a deserved one. I'm proud of my lads.”
Frustrated Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo said: “It was a set-piece that got them back in the game, which disappoints us, but we had chances to kill the game and did not take them.” Leeds Derby County.
had the same disappointment as they conceded a last-gasp equaliser at highflying
United led twice through Pierre-Michel Lasogga and Ezgjan Alioski, but the Rams hit back courtesy of Andi Weimann and Chelsea loanee Kasey Palmer.
Advantage
Substitute Palmer struck in the second minute of injury time, to deprive Leeds boss Paul Heckingbottom of his first victory since taking the reins. It proved a good night for
Cardiff as they took advantage of slip-ups by others to cement their hold on second place. Kenneth Zohore scored the only goal on 65 minutes as Neil Warnock’s men triumphed 1-0 at Ipswich to extend their advantage over third-placed Aston Villa to four points.
On-loan Newcastle striker Aleksandar Mitrovic notched his first Fulham goal in their 1-1 draw at Bristol City. The Robins replied through Bobby Reid. The teams remained fifth (Fulham) and sixth (Bristol City) in the table.
The previous night, Villa had to settle for a point at home against Preston. Tom Barkhuizen gave the Lilywhites a first-half lead, but Villa levelled with a penalty from sub Lewis Grabban midway through the second half. Villa’s neighbours Birmingham had a night to forget. They crashed 5-0 at Brentford. Ollie Watkins led the way with a double, while Florian Jozefzoon and Neal Maupay also netted. An own goal from Marc Roberts added to the Blues’ misery.
Bagged
Fuming Birmingham boss Steve Cotterill said: “You can't make the mistakes we've made and expect to get anything out of a Championship game – especially away at Brentford.”
Sheffield United gave their play-offs hopes a lift by beating
QPR 2-1 at Bramall Lane. Richard Stearman and John Lundstram were on the mark for the Blades, with Luke Freeman replying for the R’s.
Rudy Gestede bagged a double and Patrick Bamford chipped in as Middlesbrough saw off Hull City 3-1. Evandro netted for the Tigers.
Strike duo Lee Gregory and Steve Morison notched in the second half as Millwall overturned
a 1-0 half-time deficit to get the better of Sheffield
Wednesday at The Den. Joey Pelupessy had given the Owls the lead.
Lee Tomlin popped up with an 85th-minute equaliser as
Nottingham Forest avoided defeat at home against Reading.
Defender Omar Richards had given the Royals a 35thminute lead with his maiden senior goal.
There were two big games at the bottom of the table. Jose Morais’ reign as Barnsley boss got off to a nightmare start as Burton’s Jamie Allen rifled home a cracker in the opening minute.
Manchester City loanee Jacob Davenport doubled the Brewers’ lead on the stroke of half-time with a superb freekick.
Daniel Pinillos pulled one back with 15 minutes left, but Burton hung on to take three vital points that lifted them off the foot of the table.
Sunderland now hold that unwanted position after going down 1-0 at Bolton. Zach Clough’s 17th-minute goal proved decisive.
It was his first since returning to the club on loan from Nottingham Forest.